Her sweet pink nipples called to me, but I ignored them for now, kissing and massaging the sides and bottoms of her breasts instead, as her breath grew shallower and shallower, and her sighs grew more needy.

  Finally, I wrapped my lips around a nipple and gently suckled, while I teased it with my teeth and tongue.

  She gasped, and her body arched for me as I explored down lower with my fingertips, and switched breasts. What I was doing was nothing short of worshiping her body with my lavish attentions, I truly didn’t give a whit about my own pleasure in that moment, and she was enjoying the sensual delights. Not that it wasn’t a thrill and pleasure just to pleasure my mate, I just didn’t care.

  I teased my finger easily into her very tight but soaked core, which made me groan and vibrate my lips around her nipple.

  She gasped, and arched her body again, trying to impale herself on my finger. She sighed softly and caressed my hair and the top of my head, as I kissed a trail down her stomach, and between her legs. Her whole body jumped, when I teased her labia with the tip of my tongue.

  “James,” she whispered in a strained breathy voice.

  I slid my tongue slowly between her silken folds with a relish and enjoyment, I loved how my mates tasted, and my elf’s liquid pleasure was particularly sweet. I moaned softly at her taste, and looked up into her eyes. It was intense, and beautiful, as I worshipped the mound of her sex with my tongue, lips, and fingertips, while she stared down into my eyes with a look of pleasured awe and love in her dark blue eyes.

  Her eyes widened, and her breath caught as she ground herself against me, her back arched, and she started to tremble as she came undone against my lips and tongue. Her sweet nectar flowed into my mouth, on my lips, and down my neck in dirty little rivulets of pleasure. Her gasps and the sweet sounds of her pleasure made my cock twitch hard, as I continued to lick her folds, and clean up the tasty mess.

  “James, please, I need you now,” she said in begging breathy urgency, as she came down from her height.

  Her whole body trembled in need and the aftershocks of pleasure as I kissed my way back up to her sweet bowed lips. I nibbled on her bottom lip, and licked across it. She opened her mouth up to me, and I slowly teased my tongue inside of her mouth, while simultaneously and slowly sinking my cock inside of her tight heat until our bodies met. Her tight hot sex was a perfect fit, and she stretched and convulsed around me as her sex started to conform perfectly around its invader. Her body was pure sinful heaven around me, and her legs opened wide as she wrapped them around my middle, and then she ground up against me gently.

  “I love you Saria.”

  And I did, it was the kind of love that was terrifying, in its vulnerability, in its totality, and in its selflessness. It also made me feel invincible, because I knew she felt the same about me.

  She caressed my face softly with one hand, while slowly roaming my chest with the other, and guided my face down to hers with a gentle touch. The kiss was meltingly sweet, and our moans of pleasure mixed together as I started to slowly pull out of her tight wet pleasure, only to slide back in.

  Her body shook and arched beneath mine, and she came undone once more, as I continued to stroke softly and slowly in her convulsing sex. Each small movement was filled with tiny infinite explosions of pleasure that slowly filled my body with a euphoria in rising intensity.

  I lost count of the amount of times she reached her height as I made love to her slowly that afternoon, each of her orgasms increased in intensity and happened more frequently the longer I continued to pleasure her.

  “James, fill me, I want to feel you fill me,” she said in a shaky voice.

  All the orgasms, especially the last few very intense ones, had her very close to overstimulation.

  It was easy to obey her wish, I’d been holding back a while by then, and I released the restraint and will I’d been using.

  “Saria,” I said softly, as I pushed into her and kept pushing even as our bodies went flush. Her legs tightened around me, and she ground up gently as she squeezed me hard.

  The building euphoria snapped, and a tempest of pleasure froze my body as I started to empty myself into her sweet tight body.

  Her whole body twitched, and shook in aftershocks as I slowly came down, and I rolled off of her as soon as I could move, and pulled her against me in the spooning position. My right hand caressed her sides softly, and her stomach, but I stayed away from her erogenous zones.

  Saria said softly, “I want our child. Are you okay with that?”

  She laughed, as she felt my flagging cock twitch against her ass.

  “I guess you are. James, I won’t be fertile again for two months, but when I am…” she trailed off.

  The elven fertility cycle was much longer than twenty-eight days, closer to six months. I also had my answer on why Saria had shown this new side of herself, her and Regina must’ve talked about babies, and apparently she really wanted one, with me.

  “I’d love to have children with you, I don’t know anything about half elven children though.”

  She wiggled her body until we were perfectly flush, she fit against me perfectly.

  She said, “Half-elves have the same lifespan as elves, and are generally as thin as elves. Their ears aren’t usually pointy like an elf’s, but they can be. They also tend to be unable to have children, but not always, which is why I took so long to even bring it up, but they can still have a full life.”

  “Would they be welcome in Lelmalond?”

  She replied, “They? You already planning our second child?”

  My cock twitched again. I wasn’t sure if it was about the idea of knocking up my mates more than once, but I was obviously hard wired to want to, badly.

  She giggled, which was a rare thing.

  “I guess you are,” she said lightly, “and yes, though you’ll never be welcome there, once the child reaches their majority at a hundred and sixty, they can choose to leave us and go there.”

  Right, so they wouldn’t be welcome unaccompanied as a child, and Saria couldn’t go there at all while I was still alive. I still felt humbled by that, she gave up an important part of her life for me, at least her family could visit.

  I nodded against her hair, “Not that I don’t love this softer side of you, and the way you gave yourself to my care without reservation, or the way you suddenly want us to start a family, but are you okay?”

  She sighed, “I will be my love. I’ve known the ten elven men that died today for two hundred years, I trained with them, competed with them, commanded them, and I know all their mates back home. I just… needed to be loved, and I needed to remind myself of why we’re doing this.”

  I kissed the top of her head, I loved the feel and scent of her silky hair on my lips.

  “Anything you need.”

  She smiled, and twisted to look over her shoulder.

  “I know, you make me feel safe, cherished, and loved. You make my heart sing, and it’s hard not to touch you constantly when we’re in public. You make my heart race with the lightest touch, and I love being yours. I love you James.”

  I claimed a lingering kiss, and only ended it as I heard the outer door open. The timing wasn’t a mystery, the bond we shared didn’t show thoughts or emotions, but her sense of us would have tipped her off when Saria and I were done making love.

  My stomach growled.

  Saria giggled again, a rare and musical sound I lived to hear…

  Chapter Fourteen

  The knock on the door came early the next morning.

  Saria smiled at me from the bathtub, “You’d better answer it.”

  I nodded absently from the bed as my eyes snapped open. I was messing with my magic and a blade of grass. I might not ever experiment on humans, but I had no moral objections to screwing around with flora to see what was possible.

  I’d taken an earlier bath when Regina had gotten up, quite a thorough and pleasant bath. She was getting breakfast and I figured I’d get a little research time in. I took one more moment to admire my elven beauty in the tub, and then rolled out of bed and headed into the living and dining room to open the door.

  Karana was on the other side of the door wearing a smile. She also had on light pink robes that hugged her body similar to a tube dress down to her lower thigh. She was striking, and I took a moment to admire the view, perhaps too long.

  In my defense, she looked absolutely stunning, and the playful flirting between us had taken on a new shade of meaning since Regina gave her opinion and blessing. I could hardly credit my two current mates wanting me sometimes, and now a sultry, exotically beautiful and powerful dark elf did too? Or at least, might? Plus, I was still waking up.

  “Going to invite me in James?” her sultry musical voice wrapped around me like a caress, but it was also tinged by amusement.

  I nodded a bit sheepishly as I stepped out of the way, “Of course, you just look especially stunning in that color, what brings you by so early?”

  She walked past me with a swish of her hips, and a bright smile on her face as she reached out and lightly touched my arm. She walked a few more feet, giving me ample opportunity to ogle her swaying rear before she turned around.

  “A drink? Saria should be out soon.” I asked.

  She shook her head and took a step closer to me. Her red eyes were twinkling.

  “No thanks, I really can’t stay long, and I’m here to see you. Do you remember what you offered when last we spoke in private, three days ago?”

  Not for a long moment, but eventually it popped in my head. I’d been angry about the abused women held in that underground torture and slave tunnel system, and I’d offered to replace their gifts with more powerful ones, with the caveat that they’d use them to defend others in addition to themselves.

  I nodded, “I’d wondered about that, but with the battle...” I trailed off as her eyes flickered to my lips and back up to my eyes. Was it warm in here?

  She smiled, “Six of them accepted. They’ll come to you this morning, in line to be healed. Two fire, two air, earth, and water.”

  I nodded, “In the open? How will I know which ones for which?”

  She grinned, “Sometimes in the open is hiding it the best, just treat them like you do everyone else in line, and no one will think twice about it. Changing your routine to go to a clandestine meeting would stick out, there are a lot of people keeping an eye on you, it comes with power. They’ll stand in line in order, to what I just told you.”

  I repeated it back, “Two fire, two air, and the last two earth and water. In that order.”

  She nodded, “I have to go,” but she didn’t move.

  I did, I took a step closer, and I was dangerously close to invading her personal space.

  “One of these days you really should join us for a meal. I’d very much enjoy getting to know you better, in a more intimate setting than the ones we usually share.”

  It was true enough, we flirted and spoke all the time, in public or in the halls. It was fun, exciting even, my heart was racing even in that moment under her heated regard, the beauty of her smile, the exotic loveliness of her face, ears, and hair, not to mention the tight robes hugging a very sexy body. She was willowy, thin, with full breasts a little too large for her frame, and a heart shaped ass I wanted to squeeze.

  But all that led to simple lust and chemical attraction, love flowed from elsewhere.

  I wanted to get to know the real Karana past all that, who she was as a woman besides a flirty dark elven mage and high council to dark elven royalty. I knew she was trustworthy, and had a good sense of justice, otherwise she wouldn’t be helping those human women, but I didn’t know about the small intimate details of her life and what made her tick. Hobbies, likes, dislikes, and so forth, I knew almost nothing about those.

  It’d been much easier with Regina and Saria, we’d been on the road for days in private, here we had to attend to the distractions of life and only live in the stolen moments.

  Her eyes widened slightly at my blatant play for a date of sorts, and her voice purred, “That sounds lovely James, I’ll let you know.”

  She touched my chest lightly for a moment as she walked around me, and out the door. I didn’t close it until she’d rounded the bend in the hallway.

  Saria said lightly, “She’s something else, isn’t she?”

  Saria was in her armor when I turned my head, skin tight and covered from neck to boots.

  I nodded, “She is, but…” I explained the whole thought process I’d just been through, and then asked her for her opinion. It should have felt weird asking my mate for advice about another woman, but it really didn’t. I was getting used to this wacky world.

  Saria replied, “Well, her hobby is magic, all mages are obsessed with it. She does have a kind heart, but she’s absolutely ruthless when it comes to those she holds dear and the people under her command. I also think you freaked her out a bit with your intimate invitation, and she hasn’t admitted to herself how she truly feels about you yet, even if it’s obvious to me and Regina.”

  “So…”

  She smiled, “You just upped the ante in your game, give her some time to either call or fold. Don’t forget, she has as much to give up as I’d had, it isn’t an easy decision.”

  I laughed at the card comparison, and then nodded. I’d described cards and poker to her and Regina the other day, but I hadn’t been expecting those words from her mouth, ever.

  She closed the distance between us with a graceful predatory walk that never failed to mesmerize me, and then put her arms around my neck and pulled me down for a lingering kiss.

  “It’s one I’ll never regret James, you’re worth it, but she needs time to figure that all out.”

  I nodded, and put my hands on her waist, then just got a little lost in her dark blue eyes. It was disgustingly sweet as I held her and we drowned in one another’s eyes, and I didn’t care. I wasn’t sure how long that intimate moment between us lasted, but I don’t think it was too long before Regina came in with our breakfast.

  Regina was in a flowing green dress that clung in just enough places to be very alluring, while giving only the barest hints of the sexy body built for sin underneath. She’d taken to wearing more and more clothes like that, subtly sexy, and I had to admit it was effective, at least on me. I knew what was under there, yet the dress made me want to tear it off her for a good look.

  “Where do you get all these dresses?” I finally asked unbearably curious, “You never leave my side except to make our meals.”

  Regina winked, “I have my ways. It helps that I’m managing the household finances.”

  I snorted.

  She shrugged and blushed as she put down the food.

  “One of the women in the kitchen has a brother who’s a tailor in the city, the tailor in the city, since there’s only one here. She took measurements of me and passed them on with my complexion, skin and hair color.”

  I frowned, “I’ve never seen you carry a dress up from the kitchen.”

  Regina blushed furiously, “Because they get delivered right to my wardrobe when we’re in council. You’re important here, and we live in the keep. Don’t worry, when all this is over and we move out, I’ll be dragging you to the clothes shop.”

  Damn, I should have kept my curiosity on a leash.

  “Sorry, I don’t mind, it’s just you look amazing in that dress and I was curious how you’d managed it. Why are you blushing?”

  Regina smiled mysteriously, and we sat down to eat.

  For a moment I didn’t think she was going to answer.

  Her voice was soft, “I love the way you look at me when I wear these, plus it cuts down on most of the leers from some of the other men.”

  It was true enough, I liked the dresses on her as much as I liked her slinky and sexy lingerie that she wore for me in private, if a little differently.

  As usual, I sat beside the dais with Regina as our four-person council had their initial closed meeting. I was listening closer than I usually did since it was the day after the battle and I wanted to know the status of things. Although, I was still fiddling with my magic and the blade of grass, I was working on something rather violent, just in case the king did send an overwhelming force.

  Still, I wondered if doing this would make me a monster, or worse, if the king heard of it he might start experimenting as well, instead of merely enthralling and twisting humans, which was bad enough. Then again, chances were he’d never attribute it to me, especially if I let Karana take credit for it.

  Jeran said, “Cleanup was finished late last night, all the bodies have been turned to ash, and we now have a surplus of weapons if others come to join us. We’ve also redistributed the duties of the men and women we lost. This morning should be business as usual as we wait for the next response from the king. I think we have at least another ten to fifteen days before we see it.”

  Coren said reluctantly, “I have to admit, we did much better than I expected, but that only comes down to our flesh sculptor and mage. The price would have been too high without their actions. The king will come back in greater numbers, and his pet mages will be ready for Karana’s spell next time.”

  Karana nodded coolly, but even that was seductive in my eyes somehow.

  “Agreed, but I’m not taking my people home just yet, are you ready to give up?”

  Coren snapped, “No, just interjecting a little reality in the discussion. What I’m saying is we need new tricks if there’s any chance for us to remain free, otherwise we’ll be dead, or forced to flee.”

  Saria said, “You’re right, the same trap won’t work twice, but let’s focus on the solution not the problem. Let’s assume he’s coming with a thousand troops, double what we have, and Karana’s spell is worthless next time. So, what can we do to get prepared for it?”